Research

Themes of Work

Our research centres around the body and how technology can be used to improve how that body exists and interacts with the surrounding environment. We focus on haptic and aural modalities, using textiles as the physical medium for building wearable computational systems. Some of the research projects we undertake focus exclusively on textile sensing and interfaces whilst other focus solely on how auditory displays can be improved for users. A growing area of our work is looking towards how these two complementary technologies can be brought together in novel applications.

Below is an non-exhaustive list of some of the research we have undertaken.

Current EU Funded Projects

SONICOM

SONICOM is a research project that aims to revolutionise the way we interact socially within augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) environments and applications, from online meetings to VR gaming.

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STELEC

STELEC, short for Sustainable Textile ELECtronics, is an interdisciplinary research project funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC) under the Pathfinder programmes in the responsible electronics topic seeking cutting-edge innovation with an end goal at TRL 2-3. The project is a multinational collaboration of research institutes, universities and companies across Europe. It aims at developing next generation textile-based electronics in applications from sensing, processing to AI, with a commitment to full lifecycle sustainability.

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Citation

BibTex format

@inproceedings{Herron:2026:10.1145/3772363.3798330,
author = {Herron, MT and Kohler, M and Nieri, T and Spinelli, DS and Canesi, I and Kutz, Z and Greinke, B and Stewart, R},
doi = {10.1145/3772363.3798330},
title = {Tear-able to Wearable: Exploring End-of-Life Pathways for E-Textiles},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3772363.3798330},
year = {2026}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Electronic textiles (e-textiles) represent a growing area in HCI, yet their end-of-life remains largely underexplored, leaving no established pathways for addressing this emerging waste stream. This study represents the first step in an ongoing research program exploring recycling possibilities for e-textiles. This work examines the post-disassembly potential of conductive textile substrates to explore whether these materials retain functional value and if they can be reintegrated into new interactive systems. Using commercially available conductive woven fabrics, we apply mechanical recycling techniques adapted from traditional textile processing to produce new nonwoven materials suitable for medium-pressure, low-resolution piezoresistive sensing. Through electromechanical characterization, we identify both the opportunities and limitations of this approach.
AU  - Herron,MT
AU  - Kohler,M
AU  - Nieri,T
AU  - Spinelli,DS
AU  - Canesi,I
AU  - Kutz,Z
AU  - Greinke,B
AU  - Stewart,R
DO  - 10.1145/3772363.3798330
PY  - 2026///
TI  - Tear-able to Wearable: Exploring End-of-Life Pathways for E-Textiles
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3772363.3798330
ER  -
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